


In His Dust

by rymac0513



Category: DCU (Comics), RWBY, The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Barry's First Year as Flash but in Remnant, Dimensional Travel, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-22 22:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23001469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rymac0513/pseuds/rymac0513
Summary: Barry made a mistake. He traveled to the future and met himself. That was all fixed now but his future self also made a mistake. Instead of sending him to back Central City he sent him to Remnant. Will Barry be stranded on this strange world forever or will he find his way home?
Kudos: 4





	1. Arrival

VALE

A wormhole of lightning opened in the sky, crackling with electrical energy and ejected Barry Allen from inside.

"Slide into it," he muttered, repeating the advice his older self had given him on how to stop without tripping.

Looking up, Barry found himself in a completely unfamiliar place. This wasn't the future Central City he'd just escaped, but it wasn't the Central City of his time either. The rookie speedster was pulled out of his thoughts by the sounds of violence. Barry rotated in a circle to get a better view of his surroundings and his eyes fell on someone being chased by a large black creature. It was bipedal, covered in bony plates with red lines running across them, and solid yellow eyes. Evidently, the monster was chasing after the fleeing person who seemed to be tiring and there was nobody who could help in sight.  
What the hell is that thing? Barry asked himself, terror gripping his heart.

The creature suddenly stopped chasing the person and turned to Barry, staring him down.

The monster snarled, charged, and leaped at Barry who instinctively covered his face with his arms and closed his eyes, preparing for the pain of claws raking across his body. It never came. Opening his eyes, Barry saw the monster was suspended in the air. Looking around, Barry saw that the person that it was chasing also froze. Barry noted that the screams and gunfire had stopped along with his surroundings became gray. Slowly erasing the distance remaining between him and the creature, Barry waved his hand in front of it. The creature didn't react. Barry drew his arm in and formed a fist and he did something he had never done before. He threw a punch. He fought back. His fist made contact with the monster at blazing speed and time resumed, color returned, and the monster's head detached from its body, flying away while melting into smoke.

After looking at the now disintegrating body of the former monster, Barry glanced at his fist. He hadn't meant to kill whatever that thing had been. He didn't even know his own strength, or rather, his own speed. Ever since Barry had woken up from his coma and discovered he had superpowers, they had been nothing but trouble for him. He spent hundreds of dollars more on food in order to keep his energy up, he'd spent even more on shoes that gave out after seconds of running, and to top it all off, he had traveled to the future and met himself. Speaking of his future self, he had said that the Cosmic Treadmill would take him home. Wherever Barry was, it clearly wasn't home, and it was fairly clear that his future self had punched a wrong number or two into the Cosmic Treadmill's console.

The person the monster had been chasing looked behind them and saw Barry standing there, the creature nowhere in sight.

"Did you kill that Beowolf?" the person asked.

"Yeah. I, uh, I did," Barry said, somewhat unnerved.

"Thank you so much. You saved my life," the person said, grabbing his hand and shaking it vigorously.

"I-I'm just doing the right thing," Barry said, "I have to go now."

Running off, Barry zigzagged through the streets of the unfamiliar city stopping for only half-seconds at a time to beat down monsters of varying shapes, sizes, and toughness. As he was killing monsters, Barry began thinking about the tremendous opportunity he had. Despite the plethora of problems these powers had given him, they also gave him a chance to do good. While he raced through this silent and monochrome world he began to think about his day job as a forensic scientist. He was always too late. Always at the scene of the crime after it happened, picking up the pieces. Things were different now though, Barry could save lives instead of simply bringing killers to justice. As Barry ran he asked himself, What choice do I have? None. These powers are a gift. A responsibility. It's my duty to use them correctly.

As he was running his eyes were pulled to a hardware store. Thinking back to his future self, Barry quickly hatched an idea. Running into the store, he searched around until he found exactly what he was looking for: yellow paint. Barry slowed to a halt in front of the can of paint and grabbed it.

As he dug his fingers under the lid and cracked open the can of paint, Barry knew that there would be no coming back from this. The moment he did this he would be a hero for the rest of his life. A life that would probably end prematurely. Strangely, he was okay with that. People needed him. No, not him. They needed something more. They needed The Flash.

Cracking open the top of the can, the pungent fumes burned as Barry sucked air into his nose. Barely ignoring the foul smell, Barry dipped a shaking finger into the viscous fluid before pulling it out and dragging his finger in a circle on his chest before he dipped his finger in again and moved it in a zigzag pattern inside the circle, creating a lighting bolt.

Standing up, Barry wiped the remaining paint on his jeans and closed his eyes. He was no longer just Barry Allen. He was The Flash. The Fastest Man Alive. Now another feeling gripped his heart. Not fear. Determination. Steeling himself, Barry opened his eyes and ran back out of the store and on to the street, pausing to grab a pair of red and yellow gloves and pull them on. He was ready. Ready to save lives. To be a hero.

So Barry did what he did best. He ran. Any witnesses who had seen him would later describe what they saw as many things, a blur, a streak, a bolt of lightning, but they all agreed on one thing. It saved their lives. It was a hero.


	2. Lightning Storm

Barry was running down the street with the wind running through his hair and was prepared for more monsters of all shapes and sizes. What he didn't prepare himself for were the robots firing their weapons on defenseless people. This made Barry angry. Angry that someone would deliberately program things to attack innocent people. His heart started beating faster and sparks began to fly off of his body. Gradually, these small sparks turned into full-fledged lightning bolts.

"Leave them alone!" Barry shouted as lightning rushed from his body, targeting every robot in the area. Each bolt struck through a robot's chest, before traveling to the next in a series of electrocutions.

Exhausted, Barry fell to the ground along with the burnt robots, trying to steal back his breath. After releasing all that lightning from his body, he felt as though he had run a marathon before he'd gotten his powers. Slowly, Barry forced himself back on his feet, ignoring the drums beating in his head. Starting off again, Barry raced around the unfamiliar city, stopping only to destroy robots and kill monsters, and taking care not to uncage the lightning again. As he rounded a sharp turn around a corner, Barry almost ran straight into a bullet. Flicking the bullet out of his way, Barry's eyes focused on the massive robot that was approaching what he believed to be soldiers who were shooting at it to little effect.

The large robot brought its foot up and it brought it down on top of the soldiers but Barry carried them out of the way before the metal foot made contact. Barry turned around to face the robot that towered over him. It tried to hit Barry with its massive arm but missed completely as he backed away. Seeing the bolts on the robot's arms, Barry had an idea. Dashing towards the robot's arm, Barry unfastened the bolt and pulled it out. Running around the robot, Barry repeated the process numerous times until he couldn't find any more parts that he could pull out. Stopping in front of the robot, Barry dropped all the parts he pulled off the robot. The robot stood still for a moment then collapsed into a pile of parts. As Barry was about to race off to find others in need the ground started shaking. Barry heard sounds coming from a mountain. As bits of the mountain started crumbling away, Barry felt dread in his heart. After a few more moments the mountaintop exploded, a monster larger than any of the others emerging from the ruins.

"Oh no," Barry whispered.

As the dragon-like monster flew towards the city, Barry started panicking, his breathing started to accelerate. Suddenly, everything stopped.

"Ohgodohodohgod," Barry panicked, "How is anyone going to stop that thing?"

Pacing around, Barry dragged his hands through his hair. After a few minutes relative to him, Barry resolved to follow it. Racing directly underneath the monster, Barry destroyed every other monster that spawned from its body and hostile robots. Eventually, Barry was confronted by a cliff. The dragon flew over the cliff, leaving Barry's sight. Barry did a few laps around the cliff to find a way up but his search bore no fruit. Finding himself in front of a vertical cliff face, Barry had an insane thought. Running as far back as he could, Barry bolted forward, approaching the cliff face. When Barry was about to collide with the side of the cliff, he planted his right foot on the side before doing the same with his left foot, then doing it over and over. Before Barry knew it, he reached the edge of the cliff and shot into the air before he landed on solid ground.

"Holy crap I did it," Barry said, looking down the cliff he just ran up. Taking a look around, Barry found himself on what almost looked like a college campus, except most college campuses don't have teenagers armed to the teeth fighting monsters, robots, and massive towers in the center. As Barry was about to run off to help, he saw a lone figure walking towards a building. Barry assumed that they would be able to protect themselves but what drew his attention was that the robots and monsters weren't attacking them. Bolting towards the figure and hiding behind a building, Barry saw that it was a woman with black hair wearing a red dress with gold trim. Being a police officer, this was suspicious to Barry.

'Where are you going and why aren't you being attacked?'

Barry began to follow at a distance but decided it was too risky to stay in plain sight. Trying something new, Barry forced the atoms making up his body to vibrate at a higher speed than normal. If he did it right, he'd be rendered invisible to the naked eye. Following the suspicious woman down a corridor, she turned to an elevator. This was the real test of his new ability. When he entered the elevator with her, she didn't react. It was working. The woman pulled something white and rectangular out of her pocket and held it up to the elevator's control panel. It took a moment to scan and then she pushed a button.

The elevator started going down and Barry found himself staring at the woman and wondering, What is she up to? Once the elevator stopped, the woman walked out but Barry kept his distance. Then particles started forming around her hands. In moments she was holding a black bow in her hand with an arrow drawn before letting it fly. It took Barry a moment but he saw what she was aiming at. It was an unconscious woman encased in a pod. Barry took off. Running after the arrow, Barry's fingers grazed the fletching but it was no use. The arrow punched through the glass and into the other woman's chest.

He was too late.

The woman awoke briefly and gasped for breath before falling limp. Dead. It was only now that Barry realized she was glowing. Suddenly, light burst forth from the woman and passed through Barry before going into the other woman he had been following.

Barry's eyes diverted to the old man and teenage boy standing beside him and another girl in a separate pod. What caught his eye was the boy. The boy looked exactly like Barry did when he was younger. The only difference between seventeen-year-old Barry and the boy was the choice of attire and the fact that he carried a sword and shield. The woman started rising with energy circling around her. The boy sprang into action, raising his sword and holding his shield in front of him.

"Stay back!" the old man shouted.

The boy didn't listen and charged at the woman but was immediately blasted back.

"Jaune!" Barry heard a muffled voice cry. It was the other girl in the second pod.

The girl was banging on the door to the pod and it flew off, encased in a black glow it rocketed towards the woman but was knocked away.

The girl then leaped out of the pod and a sword and shield flew into her hands. As she charged the woman the old man held his arm out, blocking her.

"Take Jaune and get out of here!" the old man said, "Find Glynda! Ironwood! Qrow! Bring them here right away. The tower cannot fall."

"But I can help," the girl said.

Looking back at the girl, the old man said, "You'll only get in the way."

The girl ran to the side and picked up the boy before running past the woman and towards the elevator.

"I don't know who you are, but I'd advise you to leave as well," the old man said to Barry.

Turning for the briefest of moments possible for someone without Barry's abilities, the man didn't see him because Barry had already turned invisible.

"This whole time, right beneath our feet. She was right about you," the woman said as the old man flipped his cane around, "Such arrogance."


	3. Savior

They moved at the same time. Flashes of fire and green filled the room. To any bystanders, it would look like they were flickering back and forth, but to Barry, he saw every move in stunning clarity. His cane clashed with her swords. They moved back and forth across the room. The old man finally got a hit in, poking the woman in the abdomen with his cane.

She slid back, her hand on the floor, heating the floor it glowed with heat as she slid back, leaving grooves in the ground from where her fingers melted through. She stood up and turned around, ice shards forming in the air before sending them flying at the old man.

The old man blocked each shard one by one, flashes of green surrounding his form before rushing the woman and poking her with his cane a dozen times before punching her back. The woman stopped her movement by spreading her arms out, fire emanating from her body.

The old man stabbed his cane into the ground and a green bubble formed around him.

The woman launched a column of fire at the same time the old man leaped up, meeting the fire head-on.

Barry saw the bubble begin to crack. The old man was going to die. Barry refused to be too late again. Barry became visible once again and ran towards the bubble, Barry leaped up and started vibrating. Phasing through the bubble, Barry stopped phasing for a millisecond, grabbed the old man around the waist before taking a gamble and trying to phase both of them through the bubble. It worked. Barry and the old man made it through the bubble and Barry felt the heat of the fire as it flew over them. Running out of the underground facility, Barry carried the old man down a cliff and into a forest before setting him against a tree.

"Are you okay?" Barry asked, blurring his face.

"What just happened? Why am I out here? Who are you?" the old man asked in rapid succession.

"You were about to be well done, I carried you out here, and I'd rather not say."

"You carried me out here?, the old man asked incredulously before exploding in anger, "You fool! I was stalling her and now she's going to destroy the tower and no one can stop her!"  
"What's your deal?" Barry asked defensively, "I saved your life!"

"I was ready to do everything in my power to stall her! Now no one can hold her off and the tower will fall!"

"What's so important about that tower and why would you trade your life for it?" Barry asked.

"If the tower falls so do intercontinental communications," the old man said in a resigned tone, seeming to have calmed down.

"Oh, Yeah that'd be bad," Barry said, scratching his neck before kneeling down, putting his hand on the old man's shoulder and saying "But you're more important."

More screams came from the city.

Barry turned to the city and then back to the old man.

"Go," the old man said, "I'll be okay."

Barry nodded before racing off and kicking up dirt.

Entering the city, Barry found more people in danger all over the place. Barry cleared out each street in less than two seconds. Stopping for a moment, Barry heard screeching from behind him and turned around to the sight of a plethora of monsters approaching. Barry ran around the monsters and hit them in the side with a tornado, drawing their attention. As the monsters charged at him four of them lined up perfectly. Running towards a monster that was stumpy with two legs, Barry jumped on its back before propelling himself off, jumping on the wolf monster's head and doing the same to the bear before he launched off of it and burst through the body of the bird monster.

Landing on his feet, Barry felt wet. Looking at his body he realized it was because he was covered in blood. Barry vibrated in place the blood flew off. Barry heard a grunt from behind him. Whipping around, Barry brought his fists up in case it was another monster. It wasn't. It was a woman with white clothes and hair who had blood on her face and clothes. Blood that he just flung off of him.  
"Ah, jeez, I'm sorry, miss," Barry said.

"It's fine. We have bigger problems to attend to," the woman said.

"Yeah. Yeah, we do," Barry said before he saw the dragon-like monster fly at the top of the tower and knock it off. Watching the pieces of the top of the tower careen to the ground. Barry could only pray nobody was crushed under the falling portions of the tower. Growling interrupted his thoughts. More monsters were approaching. The woman drew her sword and told Barry, "Stay back."

Before the woman could move, Barry sprang into action, dispatching each monster in less than three seconds.

After the monsters were cleared, Barry asked, "So is white hair a fashion trend or are you just old?"

After getting over the sight of Barry in action, the woman rolled her eyes.

As Barry was about to say something else he heard an explosion. Whipping around to the source, he found that it came from the top of the tower.

Getting into a runner's stance, Barry looked at the tower and his eyes became alive with electricity before he was stopped.  
"Where are you going?" the woman asked, "People need you down here."

"I was too late to save someone already today," Barry said, "I'll be damned if I'm too late to save someone else."

Pushing off, Barry ruined the ground he ran on. Racing up the cliff towards the school once more. Barry lost valuable seconds in hangtime once he made it to the top. The moment his boots touched solid ground he dashed off once again. Barry phased through monsters to save time running around them. He soon made it to the foot of the tower and wasted no time planting his feet on the side before he bolted up the side.

As he ran up the side, Barry saw a girl in a cape running up the side as well. Ignoring her, Barry pushed on and when he reached the top of the tower, instead of shooting up the side, Barry reached his leg over the edge of the tower and made a ninety-degree turn over the side and kept running. He saw the woman he had followed underneath the school release an arrow aimed at another girl's chest. Barry's legs burned but he couldn't stop. Someone needed saving and he was the only one who could do it. Reaching out, Barry's fingers wrapped around the shaft of the arrow and stopped its flight.


	4. Fast Enough

He did it. He wasn't too late. He was fast enough. He was able to save the girl before the arrow hit her.

"You should get back," Barry said to the girl before she started crawling away.

After making sure the girl was as safe as she could be, Barry made his move. Running in a straight line, Barry pulled his fist back and brought it forward, being careful to not take the woman's head off. When his fist made contact the woman didn't even flinch.

Flames danced around her eyes, she flicked her hand, and a wave of fire collided with Barry, knocking him back. The woman pointed her hand at him and fire emerged.

Barry ducked and felt the fire lick at his hair as the roaring flames flew over him. The moment the flames stopped spewing from the woman's hand Barry stood up and the woman was on top of him with her swords in her hands. When the woman was about to land on top of Barry, a red blur ran in front of him and blocked the swords. It was a girl with black and red hair in a red cape wielding a massive scythe, the swords caught on the haft. Spinning the scythe, the girl knocked away the swords and kicked the woman in the face. The girl backed towards Barry and stood next to him. The woman summoned her bow and shot two arrows, one towards Barry's face and one towards the girl. Barry caught them both and after a moment the arrows began to glow. Barry frantically threw the arrows in the air but they detonated before they could get out of range. Before the spheres of fire reached Barry or the girl, he carried her away. Putting the girl down, Barry attacked the woman again, running circles around her and spinning his arms, a tornado emerged and the woman waved her hand and dispersed the tornado.

Barry closed in but a ring of fire emerged from the woman's body, forcing Barry back.

Moving back to think about his next play, Barry's eyes widened when the woman was struck by ice, fire, lightning, and glass all at once, launching her off the tower.

Barry carefully looked over the edge and was rewarded with a fiery punch to the chin that pushed him backward. Tilting his head a little farther back, Barry saw a group of four men. A man in a blue and white parka, a man in a green cloak with yellow stripes on his shirt, a man in white and orange, and a man in green and orange. Sitting up with his vision spinning and head pounding, Barry saw the man in white and orange shoot flames at the woman who simply waved her hand and changed the course of the flames back onto him.

"Oh my god!" Barry shouted. However, none of the men who had just appeared on the tower showed any form of concern at their companion's incineration. Barry soon saw why. The flames were sucked into the man's suit before he pointed his hands at her and the flames were released from the confines of the suit. The woman was blasted back and flipped around before flying at the man who pointed his wrist at her and a blast of foam emerged, covering the woman's face with foam and blocking her vision. The woman missed the man in white and orange and flew off the side of the tower.

She scraped the foam off her face leaving tiny bits behind and flew back towards the tower.

The man in the blue and white parka pointed his gun at the ground and ice shot out, forming a wall that the woman slammed into face first.

Flying around the wall, the woman landed and launched a wave of fire at Barry and the other men. Barry and the man in green and yellow created tornadoes to blow away the fire while the man in the parka used his guns to vaporize fire headed towards him and the man in orange and green and the man in white and orange stood there and took it. While the woman was focusing fire on Barry and the other men, a bullet hit her back. The flames died down and gave Barry room to breathe.

"That was for Penny!" the girl yelled, cycling her sniper-scythe before swinging her scythe at the woman but was blocked by her sword.

At that moment, the man in the green cloak pointed his wand and a lightning bolt sprang from the end. The woman countered it with fire. At the same time, the man in white and orange started shooting her with fire. After a few moments, the lightning bolt overpowered the stream of flames and struck the woman. At that moment, the massive dragon-like monster that had been watching the fight roared, the terrible sound filling Barry's ears and bringing its tail down on the floor, shattering it and sending pieces of it and its inhabitants falling off the tower.

As he was falling Barry sped up his mind and by extension, his perception of time slowed. Looking around, Barry saw that the girl with the scythe, the girl he had saved, and the man in the parka were falling with him. Barry grabbed the man in the parka and fell towards the tower. Once his feet touched the side of the tower and he ran down the side and onto the ground.

"Slide into it," Barry muttered.

Setting the man on the ground, Barry prepared to run up the tower and drag the girls but he soon saw that he didn't have to. The girl in the cape grabbed the injured girl and enveloped them in rose petals. They flew down to the ground and the petals evaporated as they landed in a heap on the ground.

"Pyrrha, are you okay?" the girl asked.

"I'll be okay, Ruby," Pyrrha said.

"You're hurt, I can get you to a doctor, just tell me whe-" Barry started saying before he was interrupted by the dragon-like monster landing violently next to them.

"Oh, hell," the man in the parka groaned, aiming his pistols and shooting the monster, covering parts of it in ice but nothing having too much effect.

Ruby also tried to hurt the enormous monster by shooting it and bolting around its body and slashing it in various places but her efforts were in vain.

As goo was dripping off of the monster, Barry darted around phasing through the newly spawned monsters improperly and causing them to explode. With a guttural roar, the monster's tail rose up and slammed on top of the man but was stopped mid-swing and covered in ice.

"Hey!" the man called.

"Yeah?" Barry asked.

"I have an idea," the man said.

"What is it?"  
"You run away, build up as much speed as possible, then you knock that thing's head off."  
"I can do that," Barry said, nodding.

Running off, Barry could feel the blood pumping through his body. People were counting on him to stop that monster. Turning around and sliding to a stop, Barry took off back in the direction he came. His feet thundered against the ground and lightning flew out of his eyes, arms, legs, and back. Suddenly, Barry couldn't hear anymore.

I must've broken the sound barrier.

As Barry approached the monster he jumped into the air and brought his fist back and slammed it into the monster's head, making it reel. It wasn't enough. Two of the monster's eyes were hanging out of its sockets and a handful of its teeth were ruined but it was still alive.

"Dammit," the man said, frustrated that the monster didn't die, before turning to Ruby, "Ruby, I want you to pry open that thing's mouth. Can you do that?"  
"Why?"

The man briefly showed her what he had in store and Ruby looked at him and then the monster before saying, "I think I can manage that."

Ruby ran towards the monster and stuck the blade of her scythe under its mouth and burst into petals, flying up and dropping on the scythe's shaft, forcing its mouth open before taking it out and planting the speartip on the bottom of the monster's mouth while the roof of its mouth rested on the top of her scythe.

Not a second was spared in pulling the pin and throwing the grenade down the monster's throat. Once the grenade disappeared the man and Ruby backed away and waited. After a tense moment, the monster began to violently spasm until it was covered by ice from the inside out. Walking up to the monster, the man held his gun by the barrel and smashed the ice-covered monster with the handle, shattering it into thousands of tiny pieces. Holstering his gun, the man turned to Barry, Ruby, and Pyrrha, who after finally having time, were looking at Barry in wonder.

"We should really get you to a doctor," Barry said, looking at Pyrrha's bleeding ankle.

"I suppose we should," Pyrrha said, trying to stand up, but fell back down after putting pressure on her leg. Barry raced over to catch her.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here," he said, picking her up and running off to find a doctor, eventually ending up at the school's evacuation point.

As Barry slid to a halt and set Pyrrha on her good foot and wrapped his arm around her back to help her walk, a boy in green and a girl in pink perked their heads up.  
"Pyrrha!" the girl called, trying to stand up but falling and clutching her side.

Pyrrha started to hop over to the duo on her one good leg, causing Barry to change course.

"Pyrrha, we're so glad you're okay," the girl said.

"Likewise, Nora."  
"Where's Jaune? And who is he?" the boy in green asked, looking at Barry.

"Jaune is in Vale and… I never got your name did I?" Pyrrha asked, looking at Barry.

Barry looked down for a moment thinking about whether or not to use his real name.

"Call me Flash," Barry said.

"What's wrong with your face?!" Nora asked, shoving her finger in Barry's face.

"Nora! That's rude," the boy in green scolded.

"It's fine," Barry said before explaining, "I'm vibrating my face at super speed to distort my facial features and protect my identity,"

"Well, Flash, thank you for saving my life," Pyrrha said.

"You're welcome," Barry said before they all heard a voice call, "Pyrrha!"  
It was Jaune.

Jaune ran to Pyrrha and embraced her as if he would never let go again. He had tears rolling down his face as he sputtered "Why did you-? How are you-?" before he broke down.

When Jaune and Pyrrha finally split apart, Barry was nowhere to be seen.

Looking out over the city he had recently learned was called Vale and watching the sunrise from the tower, Barry started thinking about his own problems instead of others. From the stress of the experience of the future and this new world as well as the idea that he'd never get home. Never get to free his father. Never bring his mother's killer to justice. Never do so many things he had wanted to do. As all these thoughts raced through his mind, Barry broke down in tears.

"How the hell am I gonna get home?"


	5. A Quick Talk

When Jaune and Pyrrha broke apart and turned to Ren and Nora, Flash was nowhere to be seen.  
Jaune looked around, wondering where he had gone. While he was looking he watched an airship land.

Abandoning his search for the man, Jaune told his team, "Let's get down to Vale,"

As JNPR approached the airship, the doors opened and Hunters stormed out, no doubt ready to retake Beacon.

As the crowd parted around JNPR, Jaune saw a familiar face.

"Dad?" Jaune muttered before calling out, "Dad!"

The man turned and his eyes caught on JNPR.

"Jaune?" he asked, before running over to his son and embracing him, "Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Yeah, Dad, I'm fine," Jaune said, leaning into the hug, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a Hunter, Jaune, it's my job to handle things like these."

Nora cleared her throat and asked, "You going to introduce us, Jaune?"

"Oh, this must be your team!" Jaune's father said, looking at the teens who were watching their interaction intently before extending his hand, "I'm Henry Arc, a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you too, sir," Ren said, taking his hand and shaking it.

"It was nice to see you again, Dad, but my teammate needs a doctor."

"Alright, Jaune," Henry said, watching Jaune help Pyrrha over to a medical station.

"Excuse me?" Jaune called to the many doctors working diligently, "My friend needs some help!"

"We're a bit busy, son," an older doctor said, pointing to chairs that were lined up, "If it's not too serious you can wait over there."

Helping Pyrrha over to the chairs, Jaune set her down and sat beside her.

"What happened up there?" Jaune asked.

"I lost," Pyrrha said simply.

"Do you want to talk about it?"  
"No."  
"Alright. Just know that I'm here if you want to."

"Okay."

A few minutes later, a doctor finally came to look at Pyrrha.

"What's the problem?" the doctor asked.

"It's my ankle," Pyrrha told the doctor.

"What happened to it?"

"Hit with an arrow."

The doctor took Pyrrha's injured ankle and looked at it for a moment before saying, "Ah, there's definitely something stuck in there."

"Can you get it out?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't think so," the doctor replied, "It looks like you'll need surgery and we can't do it here. Where do you come from, kid?"

"Mistral."

"Well, I would advise going home and having the surgery there."

"I see," Pyrrha said simply.

"I'm sorry we couldn't do more for you," the doctor said.

"You've done more than enough," Pyrrha said.

Jaune helped Pyrrha up and walked her back towards Ren and Nora.

"So what did they say?" Ren asked.

"I'm going to need surgery," Pyrrha said, "And it's going to be back in Mistral. Will you come home with me?"

"Yes!" Nora shouted. "Will we get to see your house? Meet your parents?"

"Yes, Nora," Pyrrha laughed.

A few minutes had passed since Barry broke down and he had been able to compose himself. Standing up and wiping his eyes dry, Barry backed to the edge of the tower and ran. Barry didn't stop when he reached the other ledge. Instead, he ran straight down the side. Weaving around gaggles of monsters, Barry reached the evacuation point in under a second. He wished he had not. What Barry saw could not be real. It was his father, Henry Allen, in the flesh. Barry closed his eyes and smacked his head a few times to try and shake the hallucination. When Barry opened his eyes he was still there. Barry didn't know what to do. So he ran. His heart hammering in his chest. He didn't get far as tears were blocking his vision. Deciding it wasn't safe to run at Mach speeds without being able to see clearly, Barry stopped and leaned against a wall, thoughts of his father running through his head. Turning around and sliding down the wall, Barry buried his face into his hands and waited for his heart rate to decrease. That couldn't be real. Barry thought. Dad is back home. In prison, and I'm wherever here is. Free. As he was taking deep breaths and processing what he just saw, he heard a thud in front of him. Looking up, Barry saw a girl in black and white clothing with a bow on her head. The girl approached Barry and kneeled down in front of him.

"Are you alright?" the girl asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Barry said, waving her away.

"You know, the evacuation point is over that way," the two of them said in unison.

"Well, why aren't you over there?" the girl asked.

"Bad memories," Barry said before asking, "Why aren't you?"

"I got someone I cared about hurt. They're better off without me."

"That's not true."

"It is. You weren't there. You don't know what happened."

"No, I don't, but running from your problems won't make anything better, and I know a thing or two about running."

"I have to go," the girl said, starting to walk away but was stopped by Barry asking, "Are you afraid they'll hate you?"

Turning around, the girl looked at Barry and asked, "Do you know what it's like for someone you care about to get hurt because of you?"

"No, but I know what it's like to feel like you could have —should have— done something to stop it," Barry replied, looking down before saying, "If you're afraid they'll hate you, running away will only make things worse. If you stay you'll have a better chance of fixing things."

"You really think that?" the girl asked.

"I do," Barry responded.

"Alright. I'll give it a try," the girl said before she began walking off toward the safe zone.

Before the girl went out of earshot, she stopped, turned around and told Barry, "Thank you."

"No problem," Barry said, waving goodbye.

Letting his hand fall back to his side, Barry closed his eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Leonard and the other Rogues awoke to the sound of roaring engines. After taking a moment to rub the sleep out of their eyes and come to their senses, they started looking for the source of the noise, they noticed an expensive-looking airship with four wings and a snowflake on the side landing near the air docks. It took Leonard a moment but he soon remembered where he'd seen the logo before. It was on every crate of Dust the Rogues had stolen at the docks months earlier. When the door opened, a man in a white suit with white hair, and a white mustache accompanied by security robots strolled out of the airship like he owned the world. Leonard knew who this was. It was Jacques Schnee, the CEO of the SDC. If he was here that meant that the airship he arrived in was likely his personal one. The personal airship of the CEO of the largest company on Remnant probably had something valuable.

Nudging Sam, Leonard pointed over to Jacques and said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That we ignore the rich guy and rest?" Sam asked.

"Get up," Leonard said, grabbing Sam under the arm and turning to Mick and Marco, "C'mon, let's go."

Mick and Marco stood up and followed Leonard over to the newly landed airship.

"We gonna rob this guy?" Marco asked

"No, we're gonna ask him nicely to give us every valuable thing he has," Leonard said sarcastically. The Rogues put their masks back on and carefully approached the airship, hands on their weapons.

The Rogues snuck behind the mechanical guards and entered the airship. Working as quickly as possible, The Rogues swiped everything in sight.

"Hey, Mirror Master!" Mick called.

"What is it, Heat Wave?" Sam asked as he was gathering valuables.

"There's a safe over here. Think you can glass it?"

"Yeah, sure," Sam said, collecting his pile of valuables in his mirror and drawing his remaining pistol.

"Move outta the way," Sam ordered.

"Alright, alright," Mick muttered, shuffling out of Sam's line of fire.

Sam fired a single shot and the door of the safe turned into glass. Kicking the door, Sam was quick to gather the Lien that was stored in the safe.

"Everyone got everything?" Leonard asked. When he was met with a positive response, he said, "Let's get out of here."

The Rogues were walking towards the exit of the airship when Jacques, his daughter, and the robot guard entered.

When Jacques and The Rogues came face-to-face, he was shocked for a moment. The robots weren't as reactive as they raised their arm cannons and bullets flew. The Rogues scrambled out of the way as rounds flew through the air and tore up the airship. After finding cover behind a seat, Marco stood up and raised his wand, a gust of wind blowing Jacques, his daughter, and the robots all over. Standing back up, The Rogues bolted out of the airship and back onto the landing pad. As bystanders began to gather, Leonard aimed his gun at the ground and fired, ice spreading beneath The Rogues' feet.

"Mirror Master, get us out of here," Leonard commanded.

"On it," Sam said, and to the astonishment of onlookers, The Rogues sank into the reflection.

Barry awoke to the sound of gunfire. When his eyes opened he began to panic when he found he was not in his bedroom. His heart began to race but soon sank as he remembered the events that led up to this moment. He wasn't home. He may never be home again. Standing up, Barry ran to the source of the gunfire. By the time he got there he saw the men who helped him fight the woman sink into a patch of ice on the ground. There were onlookers, so Barry stopped running and got as close as possible without drawing attention to himself. When he got to the front of the crowd, Barry asked a woman, "What happened?"

"Those men just robbed Jacques Schnee!" the woman told him.

"Oh," Barry said, pretending he knew who Jacques Schnee was before he saw a man limp out of an airship a little to the left while holding his arm. The man wore a white suit, had white hair, and a white mustache.

"Dammit!" the man shouted along with some more profanities but Barry's attention was grabbed by the man who looked exactly like his father. He was leaving the crowd and heading to the monster infested school. Barry felt an intense desire, a need, to follow this man and find out why he looked exactly like his father. If it meant figuring out this man's identity, Barry would follow this man to the end of… wherever he was.


	6. Protector

Mercury and Emerald were shocked when they saw Cinder being escorted by four Hunters. Somehow the Fall Maiden had been defeated.

"We have to help her," Emerald said.

"How?" Mercury asked, "She's surrounded by four of the best Hunters on the planet."  
"We have to do something!"

"No, we don't, not unless she tells us to."

"Well she will, and we won't have to break into prison if we do it now."

Mercury pursed his lips for a moment before he conceded and asked, "Alright, how are we going to get Cinder out of the clutches of four of the best fighters on Remnant?"

"I'll use my semblance," Emerald answered.

"Are you sure you can use it on four people for long enough?" Mercury asked.

"I'm gonna have to be able to," Emerald said before she jumped off the rooftop and landed on the street without making a noise.

Mercury sighed, and jumped down to join her. Careful not to make a sound, Emerald and Mercury began approaching the Hunters escorting Cinder towards certain doom. The drunk who had saved Amber from Cinder was in the back. Emerald used her semblance to cloak Mercury and he snuck between the drunk and the general and grabbed Cinder, pulling her out of the group and leaving behind her image in four minds.

Mercury pulled Cinder between the drunk and the general and ran as fast as Cinder would keep up. After running what must have been half a mile, the trio stopped at the cliffs. Sweating, Emerald finally let the illusion drop. Although she couldn't see or hear the Hunters, she could imagine what was going on between them. Turning to Cinder, Emerald finally got a look at the extent of the damage done to her. Most of the left half of her face was burnt to a crisp and her left arm was missing as well.  
"Cinder…" Emerald said, covering her mouth with one hand and reaching towards Cinder.

"Get away from me!" Cinder snarled, slapping Emerald's hand away.

"I hate to interrupt the reunion but we should really get going," Mercury interrupted.

"Right, right," Emerald said, taking out Thief's Respite and sinking the blade into the dirt before turning to Cinder, "Can you get down on your own?"

Cinder looked away for a moment before shamefully saying, "No."

Emerald gingerly wrapped her arm around Cinder's waist and began to rappel down the cliff face. Mercury jumped off the cliff and waited until the last moment to activate Talaria to slow his descent. Once Mercury landed, the trio set out into the woods where an airship was waiting for them. When they climbed into the airship they found Hazel in the pilot's seat. He took a look at Cinder and asked, "Didn't go too well?"

"Just get us out of here," Emerald barked.

As the airship lifted off the ground, Emerald approached Cinder with some bandages and started wrapping them around Cinder's arm. When she was done, she took a deep breath and asked, "What happened up there?"

Cinder grit her teeth before answering, "I defeated the Nikos girl but before I could kill her someone else showed up. Someone likely more powerful than any Hunter alive. Perhaps —with some training— even more powerful than a Maiden, and while I was fighting him those Rogues and the Rose girl that had been causing Roman so much trouble showed up. It was six against one."

"More powerful than a Maiden?" Emerald asked.

"Yes," Cinder replied before turning away, signaling she was done with the discussion.

Roman Torchwick's eyes shot open and he found every inch of his body was in excruciating pain. As he struggled to move his body, his mind flashed back to the last thing he remembered. Just as the plan was coming together, he'd been interrupted by Storm Sorcerer or whatever his name was. During their scuffle, Roman had been blown off the airship but he had managed to take that windy freak down with him which led to a dramatic midair brawl over the bastard's wand that… Well…Roman clearly had not come out on top. Roman began to lift his arm but it was gently grabbed by a pair of hands and guided back down onto the soft bed he was lying on. With great effort, Roman opened his eyes and a mismatched pair looked back into his own.

"Ne…o?" Roman croaked before he sucked in a breath. It hurt to even talk.

Neo nodded in confirmation before putting her finger in front of her mouth and then putting her hands together and resting her head on them.

Roman got the message and closed his eyes. He didn't know how long he had been out for or if his Aura was even regenerated. Then, a terrifying thought came to the surface of Roman's mind. What if this was all his Aura could do? Would he be a cripple in horrible pain for the rest of his life? No. Roman wouldn't let that happen. Using all his willpower, Roman summoned his Aura and felt what little of the bright orange protection was left wash over him and relieve his pain just a little bit. With the pain lessened, Roman's eyes began to feel heavy before he slipped away to The Dreaming.

Barry followed the man at a distance. A few minutes after leaving the crowd he joined up with more men and women, each carrying a complex weapon and headed towards the monster-infested school. Barry followed at a close distance, zipping from cover to cover in order to stay close but out of sight. Barry streaked into an alley before peeking his head out to keep track of the man when he heard sniffles coming from behind him. Turning around, Barry spotted a pile of rubble. Carefully approaching the rubble, Barry peered above it and found a young boy no more than four years old crying softly and clutching a stuffed rabbit to his chest. Barry took a moment to consider his options. He couldn't leave the boy alone but helping him would mean losing track of his 'father'. Sighing, he knew that this boy was truly more important than his own suspicions. Walking over to the boy and squatting down next to him, Barry gently touched his shoulder and said, "Hey, bud, you okay?"

The boy looked up, saw Barry and said, "I can't find my mommy and daddy."

Barry breathed deeply and knew that if he helped the boy he would lose track of the man, but that didn't matter. Someone needed help and he was the only one around who could.

Turning around, Barry looked back and said, "Hop on my back, I'll help you find them."

Waiting for a brief moment, Barry felt the boy climb on and then took off. Not wanting to hurt the boy, Barry ran relatively slow. As the safe zone came into view, Barry's vision was fragmented and he fell to the ground, his arms not leaving the boy. His feet left the ground but Barry did everything in his power not to roll. Sliding across the ground, Barry was lucky that his face didn't touch the ground but the scraping pain across the rest of the front of his body was intense.

Barry tried to get up but his attempts were in vain. Looking up, Barry saw he was caught in a net of some kind and heard scuttling behind him. Looking behind him as best he could, Barry caught sight of a massive spider approaching him and the boy, clicking its mandibles together. Barry tried desperately to break out of what he now assumed was a web but his efforts bore no fruit. Positioning himself on top of the boy, Barry told him, "That thing is going to have to tear open the web to get to us so when it grabs me… you run, okay?"

The boy nodded.

"Okay, good," Barry said.

Barry was never a religious man but he decided now would be a good time to start. Closing his eyes and saying a prayer to any god who would hear him, Barry accepted his fate when the report of a gun met his ears and the sounds of slashing and screeching followed. Barry heard footsteps approaching him and the boy. He heard the whistle of a blade and the web went slack. Turning his head, Barry saw that the web had been cut open. Grabbing the boy, Barry crawled out of the net and found a ringed hand offered to him. Grabbing the hand and standing up, Barry came face to face with a scruffy middle-aged man with a clockwork sword.

Looking past him, Barry saw the disintegrating carcass of the large spider that was about to make Barry his breakfast and asked, "Did you kill that?"

"Yup," the man replied before reaching into his pocket and taking a swig from a flask.

"Thank you," Barry said.

"You're welcome."

"Well, I gotta get this kid to his parents. Maybe I'll see you again?" Barry said.

"Actually, there's someone who wants to speak with you. I'll get this kid to his parents," the man said.

"Why should I trust you to protect him?"

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white rectangle with a yellow diamond in the middle. The rectangle expanded and a picture of the man popped up on a blue screen that read, 'Huntsman License' with the name 'Branwen, Qrow' on it.

"I think I've got more qualification than you, kid," Qrow said.

"Why does a hunting license make you more qualified than me?" Barry asked.

Qrow looked at Barry strangely for a moment before Barry put the pieces together and said, "Wait… you hunt those things don't you?"

"Yeah, I hunt Grimm."

"I guess you are more qualified than I am," Barry said, looking down at the boy and said, "You be good for him, okay?"

The boy nodded.

"Alright, kid, let's get going," Qrow said, offering the boy his hand and walking away but before they got far, Barry said, "Wait, who wants to talk to me?"

"He's behind you," Qrow said.

Whipping around, Barry came face to face with the old man he had saved earlier.

"Hello, sir. I have a proposition for you."


	7. Truth

"Hello, sir. I have a proposition for you," the old man spoke.

"And who are you? What kind of proposition do you have? " Barry asked, narrowing his eyes. A job offer as soon as he came to this world? That's too good to be true.

"My name is Ozpin, and you, my friend, are a being of extraordinary power. A power that can do a world of good with a guiding hand." the old man said, a cane in one hand, the other extended towards Barry.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Before I tell you any more I need to know your name."

"My name is Barry Allen. I'm the fastest man alive," Barry said, extending his hand and gripping Ozpin's.

Ozpin took a moment to evaluate Barry, seemingly sizing him up. Ozpin must have deemed Barry trustworthy.

"Well, Mr. Allen, that woman you fought is something called a Maiden. She is a being of great power and has just escaped custody."

"Do you want me to bring her back?" Barry asked, eyebrows raised, "Do you have any facilities designed to hold her?"

"No, she's long gone by now and no, we don't have facilities designed to hold her," Ozpin said.

"So what do you need me for?" Barry asked confusedly.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Mr. Allen, the world is in danger. You can help save it."

The idea of an endangered planet made Barry think of his childhood heroes from his mother's old comic books. "I'd love to help but I need more details before I commit to anything."

"That's understandable. I'll explain everything. Come with me," Ozpin said, gesturing to an out of the way alley.

Upon waking, Roman heard a loud mechanical clicking, not unlike a socket wrench. He opened his eyes and found Neo hard at work attaching something to his body.

"Neo? What are you doing?" Roman asked with an edge in his voice.

Not looking towards him, Neo held a finger up and tightened one last thing before standing up and turning to him, extending her hand. Roman lifted his own and found no pain present. His eyes were pulled to his arm and he found a metal bar running along the outside. Grabbing Neo's hand, she strained to pull him up. Roman, however, was able to sit up as easily as blinking. Roman looked over his body found metal around his ribs and two metal bars on the inside and outside of his legs. He turned on the bed, his movements accompanied by the mechanical whirring and his feet touched the ground. Roman stood up with no trouble and stretched.

"Neo, where the hell did you find this?" Roman asked, admiring the marvel of technology. How something so simple looking could relieve all of his pain was beyond him.

Neo ran her finger across her throat.

"Oh."

Barry leaned against a wall, his mind processing what he's been told. "So you're telling me," Barry started slowly, "That gods are real, you reincarnate every time you die, there are four powerful relics hidden underneath schools, and that there's some woman named Salem that can control those monsters called Grimm?"

"That's the gist of it," Ozpin said.

"Okay," Barry said, mostly unphased by these revelations, the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, the Turtle, and himself coming to the front of his mind.

"You don't care? Most people I've told this to have been shocked," Ozpin asked in a manner suggesting he was suspicious of Barry.

"I've seen weirder," Barry said,

"Such as?"

"There's a bulletproof man who can fly, shoot lasers from his eyes, lift buildings, and I've traveled to the future and met myself," Barry said.

"The future?" Ozpin asked, eyebrows raised, "What was it like?"

"It was awful. The Turtle had enslaved everyone in Central City, and myself and I were the only forms of resistance," Barry said before quickly shutting his mouth and looking away. He had said too much.

"You've lost me, Mr. Allen. The Turtle? Central City?"

"I- uh, I didn't mean this planet's future. This may sound weird but I'm from another planet," Barry said, bringing his eyes back to Ozpin.

"Another planet?" Ozpin breathed, looking at Barry with wide eyes, before looking away and muttering, "Could the gods have-?"

Sticking his hands into his pockets, Barry was reminded of the existence of his wallet and became aware of his basic needs. "Before I commit to helping you, I need some things in return."

"I'm sure we can work that out. What did you have in mind?" Ozpin asked.

"I need a roof over my head, I need an identity, and I need a stable income," Barry said, listing his demands off on his fingers.

"That can be arranged quite easily," Ozpin said

"One last thing. I want to operate out in the open, help people whenever I can, not stick to shadows and secrets like your group," Barry said.

"Be a superhero?" Ozpin asked with a small smile on his face before continuing, "If that's what you want, I doubt any of us could stop you. Now, Mr. Allen, I want you to meet my associates. Come with me."

Ozpin slowly started in the direction of the safe zone, Barry walked beside him and whispered into his ear, "So how many times have you reincarnated, exactly?"

A sad smile flashed across his face before he replied, "Too many to count. Now, if you don't mind me asking you a personal question, how did you get to be so fast? It's clearly not a Semblance," Ozpin said, looking straight into Barry's eyes with a sparkle in his own.

"Electrified chemicals," Barry said shortly.

"Fascinating. You'll have to tell me the full story sometime," Ozpin said, before asking, "Are there any drawbacks to these powers?"

"A few. Using these powers burns a lot of energy so I have to eat a lot. My shoes burnt up whenever I ran before I made these boots," Barry said, motioning to his yellow footwear. "When I read at super-speed, the information doesn't stay in my head for too long. Worst of all, if I run too fast I'll travel through time."

"You must be starving then," Ozpin said.

At that moment, Barry's stomach growled in a way that would make a Grimm jealous. "I am, now that I'm thinking about it."

Ozpin gave a small smile. "I'm sure that we have something in the safe zone."

The two of them made their way down the ruined road, eventually arriving back at the series of tents that acted as a command center. Ozpin pointed Barry towards a tent. Walking over and opening the flap, the smell of food assaulted Barry's nose. A long line of people was waiting for food to be served. Once he finally found himself with a bowl of soup in his hands he returned to Ozpin, who ushered him towards a group of three people. Barry started to approach but something caught his eye before he reached them. Tired adults trying to comfort a group of far too many children all crying for their parents. It was heartbreaking, and reminded Barry of himself. Many of these children would grow up without their parents. Grow up to be like him. No hope, afraid of what tomorrow might bring.

Barry realized he was standing in front of the group and forced these thoughts out of his head. He was unsurprised to see Qrow. Beside him stood a man with shredded clothes that completely failed to cover the fact that half of his upper body was robotic, and a blonde-haired woman wearing a cape stood with her back to Barry.

Ozpin began to speak, "Qrow, James, Glynda. This is Barry Allen, he's the newest member of our… cabal."

"What?! You'd just let a random kid in on all of our secrets like that?!" James shouted.

"Ozpin, are you sure this is wise?" Glynda said.

"He saved my life, went toe-to-toe with a maiden and expected nothing in return. That's all that needed to be said." Ozpin.

"I'm not sure he can be trusted. He was stalking Henry Arc until he found a kid," Qrow said.

Every head turned to Barry with looks ranging from inquisitive to horrified.

Barry was quick to mount his own defense, "He's making that sound worse than it is! That kid was scared, I was taking him back here!"

"That may be true, but why were you stalking Henry Arc?" Qrow asked, a scowl on his face.

"This is strange, but… he looks exactly like my father. The only difference between them is that my father is in prison and he's here," Barry said sadly.

"What's your father doing in prison?" Qrow asked.

"Framed for murdering my mother. It's what inspired me to become a CSI," Barry said, looking towards the ground and his shoulders falling.

"You're a cop?" James asked.

"Yeah, are you?" Barry asked, hoping he could find someone to relate to in this world.

"Not exactly, military general. What department do you work for?"

Barry wasn't sure if it was wise to tell the others of his secret origin, so he looked to Ozpin, who nodded.

"Central City PD," Barry said.

"Central City?" James asked, "I've never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have," Barry said, taking a deep breath before saying, "I'm from another planet."

James, Glynda, and Qrow took a moment to process the information before Glynda asked, "So what makes you qualified to join our group, Mr. Allen?"

Suddenly, Barry was everywhere

"This makes me qualified," He said, each word originating from a different angle.

"So you can teleport?" James asked, his faith in Barry dropping.

"What? No, I was moving at super speed," Barry said.

"You're fast enough to be invisible to the naked eye?" Glynda asked.

Barry nodded.

"So what kind of training do you have?" James asked.

"I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Sun City University, majoring in organic chemistry and minoring in criminology," Barry said.

"No, no, combat training," James said.

"Basic police things," Barry said.

"That won't do. You need some real training," James said.

Barry was opening his mouth to reply when a voice from behind said, "Excuse me?"

Turning around, Barry found Ruby looking up at him.

"I, uh, I wanted to thank you for saving my friend," Ruby said, "I wasn't fast enough… and you were. So... thank you."

"No need to thank me. I'm just doing the right thing," Barry said, a small smile crossing his face for a brief moment.

Ozpin put his hand on Barry's shoulder and said "Why don't you go with James? Go get everything set up?"

1 MONTH LATER, MISTRAL

It had taken a lot of string-pulling, but Ironwood had been able to falsify records, making Barry a certified CSI from Atlas who was transferring to Mistral. Barry walked down the street and turned left, entering the police department. Entering this brand new building made him remember his first day at CCPD, a meek twenty-one-year-old who was only interested in a single case, but eventually, he understood that others needed justice as well. Barry was knocked out of his daydream when he bumped into someone and he stumbled back. The person cried out and fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry about that, I should have been paying attention," Barry said, offering his hand to the fallen officer.

"It's fine," the blue-haired woman said, taking Barry's hand and standing up, "I've never seen you around here."  
"You wouldn't have, I'm the new CSI. Just transferred from Atlas. Name's Barry Allen," he said.

"I heard we were getting a transfer," the woman said, extending her own hand, and said, "Nice to meet you, Barry Allen, I'm Detective Eileen Azure."  
Barry took her hand and said, "Likewise, where should I go?"

"Up the stairs, first door to your left is the crime lab, office in the back is the director's office. He'll tell you more," Eileen said.

"Thanks, I'll see you around," Barry said, walking towards the staircase and starting up, skipping stairs.

Barry made it to the top of the stairs and turned to his left, opening the door. Walking in, Barry could feel everyone's eyes on him. He ignored this and continued on his way to the door of the director's office. Barry saw a vaguely human shape behind the opaque glass panel in the door. Barry raised his hand to knock on the door but stopped himself. Barry quickly straightened his tie and jacket and smoothed out his shirt. After running his hands through his hair, Barry rapped on the glass three times.

The shape behind the glass jerked up and called, "Come in!"

Barry grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, all the while thinking, "Welcome to your new life, Barry Allen."


	8. A New Life

"Hey, new guy!" One of Barry's co-workers called, "We're heading out for drinks. Wanna join us?"

"Oh, uh, no. No, I'm alright," Barry said, looking up from the history book he was reading.

Being the newest forensic scientist and having this be his first day, Barry wasn't given anything to work on, instead, another scientist was assigned to show him the ropes. Barry wasn't an egotistical person, but he knew that he'd run circles around the other scientists even without his powers, so not getting any cases to work on was frustrating. The lights in the office went dark, and Barry turned on his desk light to continue reading. Barry was fascinated by Remnant. Dust, Grimm, Faunus, and Huntsmen, everything was straight out of a fairy tale. While Barry was more of a sci-fi man, he'd take what he could get.

Hours later, Barry looked at his watch. It was 8:15, he was meant to meet Haven's headmaster at 7:00.

"New world, same old me," Barry groaned before he raced off, changing into his red t-shirt and golden and red pads on the fly.

In less than ten seconds Barry arrived in the Headmaster's office at Haven academy. Viewing the world through a single instant, Barry looked around the half-circle room. It was a mess, to say the least. There were boxes, papers, and books that were strewn everywhere. Above his head was a loft which was equally messy, turning around, Barry found bookcases adorning each wall beside the door he just came in. Finally was the man sitting behind a desk. He was middle-aged with gray hair and wearing a mantle over a coat, which was over a brown vest and white dress shirt with a necktie Barry remembered seeing in old cowboy movies.

Barry let time resume and the wind in his wake picked up loose papers and flung them about. The man sitting in a chair behind the desk screamed and leaned back too far in his chair, falling to the ground.

"Professor Lionheart?" Barry asked tentatively, looking at the name plaque on his desk, then to the man lying on the ground.

"Who are you?" Professor Lionheart asked, scrambling away from Barry.

"Barry Allen," Barry said matter of factly, extending his hand.

"And why are you here, Barry Allen?" Lionheart asked, one foot moving back, his upper body contorting into a combat stance.

"Ozpin sent me," Barry said, putting his hands up, trying to defuse the man.

"Ozpin…? Yes, yes, right. Ozpin told me he'd be sending his newest operative. You're late," Lionheart said, leaving the combat stance and becoming more relaxed.

"Sorry about that," Barry said sheepishly, "It's kinda my thing. Barry Allen, chronically late."

"So why are you here, Mr. Allen?" Lionheart asked.

"I moved into the area and Ozpin wanted me to introduce myself," Barry said, rubbing his neck before he perked up, "By the way, I heard that these schools have forges."

"Yes, they do. Do you have a weapon that needs tuning up?" Lionheart asked looking over Barry for signs of a weapon.

"Not exactly," Barry said, taking a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and showing it to Lionheart.

"I think we can manage that. The forge is this way," Lionheart said, motioning to follow him.

Lionheart stood up from behind his desk and walked around the side, eyes flicking up and down Barry as he passed. They paused for a moment on the lightning bolt sloppily emblazoned across his chest with paint, a slight frown betraying his confusion. As he passed, Lionheart motioned with his hand for Barry to follow, holding the door open as he did so that the younger man could pass him by into the dimly lit hall, "If you don't mind me asking... what does the lightning bolt represent?"

"It's how I got my powers," Barry said.

"Powers? Do you mean Semblance?" Lionheart asked.

"No, a Semblance requires Aura, I don't have Aura. They're superpowers," Barry affirmed, information from one of the many books about Remnant and its people he'd read coming to the front of his mind.

"So that's how you just appeared in my office," Lionheart realized before he reprocessed what Barry said and asked," You got super speed from a lightning strike?"

"The lightning was an essential part of it, but not everything. The lightning struck me along with a few dozen chemicals that fell on top of me. I was in a coma for four months and when I woke up, I discovered I had super speed," Barry said, reliving the experience in vivid detail. The bolt of lightning throwing him back like a leaf in a hurricane, the burning chemicals splattering over his skin, slipping in and out of consciousness and the flashes of his childhood. His mother telling him to never lose hope and his father confessing to a crime he didn't commit in the hopes Barry would feel some closure.

"Amazing," Lionheart said after a brief silence before stopping in front of a steel door, "Well, here we are."

Lionheart pushed the doors open. It was a wide, cold room, many furnaces littered throughout and workbenches pushed against the walls. Barry flicked on a light and Lionheart walked over to a workbench and pulled out a drawer with weapon components scattered inside. Bary walked over and pulled a piece out, examined it, and put it back, doing the same to multiple pieces before he found one to his liking. Barry took a base piece and started building on it, other parts clicking into place as he went. In less than thirty seconds, Barry had his earpieces.

"Incredible," Lionheart breathed.

Seeing that his earpieces ranged in color from magenta to turquoise, Barry asked, "You have any paint?"

"Right over here," Lionheart said, walking over to grab a can when Barry zipped past him and found a can, cracking it open, and covering his earpieces in the paint.

"Now I need some glass," Barry said, setting his now golden earpieces down to dry.

"Being one of the foremost Huntsman academies on Remnant, we have access to the thinnest and strongest glass on Remnant," Lionheart said proudly before adding, "I trust you know how to do this? Because I certainly don't."

"Yup, glassmaking is just chemistry, I know everything about that," Barry assured him.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," Lionheart said, leaving the forge and closing the door behind him.

Ten hours later, Barry held the completed red glass in his hands and fastened the earpieces on the ends. Barry put the newly completed goggles over his face and everything was tinted red. Barry then fastened the earpieces until they were comfortable and the curve for his nose fit comfortably over it. Barry looked at his watch. It was 6:30. Barry raced back to the apartment that General Ironwood was paying for and set the alarm clock on the 'scroll' also paid for by General Ironwood, for 8:30 and fell into bed.

ANOTOITE, VACUO, 1 MONTH EARLIER

A calm fountain of crystal blue water was disrupted when a gloved hand shot out and grasped the edge of the fountain. Leonard pulled himself up and out of the fountain's reflection and immediately started sweating, in no small part thanks to the heavy snow clothes he wore. The townspeople who were in sight stopped and stared in awe at the man that just pulled his entire body out of a six-inch fountain.

"What're you all lookin' at?" Leonard shouted waving them away, "Get lost!"

The townspeople scurried back to their normal business as the other Rogues climbed out of the fountain. Sam began fanning his face with his hand and asked Marco, "Hey, turn down the thermostat, will ya?"

"No, don't," Mick said.

"Why…? Oh. Right," Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"No, Sam's right. Marco, turn down the heat," Leonard ordered.

Marco waved his wand while Mick whined and the Rogues found relief from the blistering heat.

The townspeople stopped their activities and wondered what made the temperature drop so dramatically, some shivered, their clothing inadequate for the new weather, others turned to the strangely dressed men who had just climbed out of a foot deep fountain.

"I'm not gonna be able to keep this up forever, Len," Marco said.

"So I'd bet money that this is Vacuo, right?" Mick asked.

"There are a few other deserts on Remnant so we can't be certain, but it very well may be," Marco said.

"So what do we do now?" Sam asked.  
"Ask around. Find the nearest place that isn't a dump. We'll meet back there in twenty," Leonard ordered, pointing at a saloon.

Looking around, Leonard found that the town they were currently in reminded him of a town from a western movie, like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or Tombstone.

Leonard approached the nearest local and asked, "Where are we?"  
"You're one of the guys who crawled out of the fountain," the local replied, eyeing Leonard warily.

"Yes, I am. Can you tell me where we are?"

"How'd you do that?" the local asked, ignoring Leonard's question.

"Semblance. Can you tell me where we are?" Leonard asked, beginning to lose patience.

"Did you make it cold too?" the local asked, once again ignoring Leonard.

"Another Semblance. Can you tell me where I am?" Leonard said through grit teeth.

"You're in Anotoite, Vacuo, my friend," the local finally answered.

"Alright," Leonard said walking away, making his way down the street and into the saloon, ordering a drink, and waiting for the others. Fifteen minutes later, Sam sat down next to him.

"Any luck?" they asked at the same time.

A silence endured between them before Sam motioned for Leonard to speak first.

"We're in Anotiote, Vacuo," Leonard told Sam.

"Uh-huh," Sam said before telling Leonard, "The nearest city is Coquina, about twenty-five miles north-east."

As Sam finished his exposition, Mick sat down next to them, his gloves torn at the knuckles and bleeding.

"Mick?" Leonard asked.

Mick grunted.

"What the hell happened?"  
"Some punk tried to jump me," Mick said, massaging his knuckles.

"And did you kill this punk?" Leonard asked.  
"Nah. He's probably got a concussion now though," Mick said.

"Good," Leonard said.

"I also found some property for sale," Mick mentioned.

"Why the hell would we want property in this dump?" Sam asked.

"We're wanted by Atlas, Vale is gone, and Flash would never think to come here, so he's either hanging out in Mistral or Atlas," Mick reasoned.

"Okay, but why wouldn't we buy property in the capital?" Sam asked.

"We gotta lie low for a bit, the capital's too tempting," Leonard said.

Suddenly, thunder roared.

"Hey, guys?" Sam asked tentatively, "Where's Marco?"

As Sam uttered his name, rain began to pour, the wind picked up, and lightning cracked open the sky. Suddenly it became sunny and hot, then cold and snowy, the cycle continued for a good few minutes before it came to a head. The wind roared in the saloon patron's ears, the windows rattled and the doors flew open, scattering patrons and their drinks.

"What the hell is he doing?!" Leonard shouted, but Mick and Sam couldn't hear him. He couldn't hear himself.  
Outside was black as night so the Rogues couldn't see what was happening but they assumed the town was being obliterated. Suddenly, it all stopped. The clouds parted and the sun came out.

As the disoriented patrons of the saloon got their bearings, Leonard rushed outside, pistol drawn, Sam and Mick doing the same, expecting Marco to strike them down.

What they didn't expect was for the town to be none the worse for wear, and the once dusty and sandy street to be lush and covered in plant life. As far as Leonard could see in either direction was a miracle. The once lifeless and barren wastes of Vacuo went green in minutes. The people of Anotoite oohed and ahhed at the wonder of nature and wondered what had caused this.

"What do you think?" Marco asked.

Leonard, Sam, and Mick all jumped out of their skin.

VALE, 2 WEEKS LATER

Roman and Neo trudged through the ruins of Vale. There were very few Grimm left but the cleanup would take years. Whenever a Grimm was found, it didn't stay alive for long. As Roman and Neo were finished off another group of Grimm they ran across and Atlas patrol.

The two groups stared at each other momentarily before the commanding officer tried to train his gun on Roman but was blown away by a shot from Melodic Cudgel. The other soldiers opened fire but Roman and Neo were on the move before the CO hit the ground.

Bullets pinged at Roman's heels and off of his exoskeleton as he dashed towards cover. Jumping and rolling behind and overturned car, Roman flipped the switch that raised the sight on Melodic Cudgel and leaned out of cover and taking a shot at a soldier.

While Roman was engaged in a firefight, Neo danced around the soldiers, slashing at unarmored legs, stabbing midsections, and throwing them off balance by grabbing their limbs with the hook of Hush.

Once Roman and Neo made sure the soldiers would not be getting back up, they continued along their way.

Upon arrival at the Industrial District, Roman started counting warehouses.

"Fifty-four, Fifty-five, fifty-six. Here we are!"

Roman pulled open one of the doors and inside was the airship he used to get away on the night he first met Red. The night things started going wrong. It was scratched and dented from the damage it sustained from the Huntress that saved Red's sorry butt, but far from inoperable.

Roman reached into his jacket and pulled a remote. Pointing it towards the airship and clicking it, the bay doors slid open and a ramp was lowered and Roman climbed inside, Neo hot on his heels.

Taking residence in the pilot's seat, which was rather uncomfortable thanks to his exoskeleton, Roman flipped a few switches to activate the necessary systems before activating the engine.

Roman carefully piloted the airship out of the warehouse before taking to the sky. Neo sat down next to him and pulled up a map of Remnant on her scroll before waving it in front of Roman's face.

"We're on our way to Vacuo. Vale is gone, and we're wanted by Atlas. It's best to lie low for a while and no place is better than Vacuo," Roman explained.

Neo shrugged, leaned back in the chair, and closed her eyes.

MISTRAL, PRESENT DAY

Barry woke to the sound of his scroll's alarm and swung his hand down on top of it. The alarm ceased and Barry stood up and did his morning routine in fifteen seconds. Barry stuffed his gear into a backpack and started walking towards the MPD.

Barry hated walking. All his life he'd been late to everything, but now that he had powers, he couldn't use them casually in order to preserve his cover. In twenty minutes, Barry finally arrived at the MPD and walked up to the lab. An hour passed before the lab started getting filled. "Why isn't anything getting done?" Barry asked one of his co-workers, who was reading on their scroll.

"I dunno, we haven't been getting work in almost a month," Barry's co-worker responded, not looking up from their scroll.

"A month?!" Barry screeched, "Do you know how many crimes have occurred in a month?!"

"No. Do you?"

"Too many, that's for sure!" Barry huffed, before stomping over to the Crime Lab Director's office.

Barry angrily rapped on the door but there was no answer. Barry tried two more times before he was told to come in.

Barry opened the door and stepped in before closing it behind himself.

Director Duke Silver sat behind his desk, playing some kind of game on his computer, "Can I help you?" he asked lazily, not looking up from his game.

"Sir, I can't help but wonder why the Crime Lab hasn't been getting any cases for the past month," Barry asked.

Duke didn't answer for a few moments, too engrossed in his game. It was as if the entire world didn't exist to him. Only the game. Barry cleared his throat and Duke looked up, before saying, "Oh, you're still here."  
"Yes. Why hasn't Forensics been getting cases for the past month?" Barry asked, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Detectives have been busy with more important things."

"More important things?" Barry asked angrily, "What could be more important? Even if the detectives aren't available, why hasn't Forensics been collecting evidence?"

Duke didn't respond.

"Hello? Remnant to Duke?"  
"Have a good day, Mr. Allen," Duke said dismissively.

Barry huffed and stomped over to his desk, grabbed the bag with his Flash gear before storming out of the building and onto the street. Barry was fuming. How could Forensics go a month without a case? Any evidence that could have been collected would be long gone. Dozens of crimes would go unsolved and the people and families would never get closure.

As Barry walked past a café, a familiar group caught his eye. Stopping and looking, Barry was surprised to see JNPR, Ruby, and another girl with white hair. Stopping, Barry pondered the idea before acting on it. Walking into the café, Barry ordered a drink before he took it outside and taking a deep breath, Barry approached the group of six. One foot in front of the next. Barry was nervous but he forged on, eventually reaching the group.

"Excuse me?"

Ruby jumped and turned around, "Yeah?"

"Uh, I hate to bother you but all the other tables are full and this seat is free… so can I sit here?" Barry asked.

Ruby looked to her group of friends who shrugged, clearly giving her the choice.

"Sure," Ruby said.

Barry sat down with his drink in hand and introductions went around. A few minutes of conversation passed and Barry was beginning to like the kids.

"So are you guys Huntsmen-in-Training?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Ruby asked.

"The armor," Barry said, pointing to Jaune and Pyrrha, before asking, "Don't Huntsmen-in-Training work in teams of four?"

"Yeah, but my sister got hurt real bad at Beacon so she's recovering back home with her partner," Ruby explained.

"You were at Beacon?" Barry asked, feigning surprise.

"Yes," Pyrrha said sadly, looking down, "We're here to investigate the Fall, the woman on the broadcast said she was from Mistral, so when I was sent home for treatment, Ruby and Weiss volunteered to come with me and my team to investigate."

"Investigate, huh? I know a thing or two about that. I'm a forensic scientist," Barry said.

"Really?" Weiss asked.

"For all the good it's doing. Forensics hasn't had a case in a month!" Barry ranted, "The director of the crime lab says there are more important things for detectives to be doing!"

"Maybe it has something to do with Huntsmen going missi-" Jaune said, Pyrrha covering his mouth before he could finish.

There were a few moments of silence, Jaune's eyes moving back and forth as Pyrrha's hand was over his mouth.

"Huntsmen are going missing?" Barry asked.

"We have to go," Ruby said before the group stood up and gathered their things.

"Wait!" Barry pleaded.

"Yeah?" Ruby asked.

"Can I… can I have your scroll numbers?" Barry asked, "I... I don't have any friends and you guys are pretty nice."

The group looked at each other before discussing it. Hushed whispers emanating from the huddle. A few moments later, they broke apart and Ruby said, "We'd be happy to be your friends, Barry."

A smile was plastered on Barry's face the entire time they exchanged contact information. After the group departed, Barry threw his drink away and headed back to the police department where he waited until everyone left.

Turning on his desk light, Barry pulled up missing person reports, and muttered, "Let's get to work."


	9. Investigation

"Alright, Rufus Mordant," Barry said to himself as he pulled up a missing person report on his computer monitor. Barry looked over the report and found the contact information, picking up his scroll and dialing the number, a few moments passed as the scroll rang before someone picked up.

"Hello?" a female voice from the other line asked.

"Hello, are you Mrs. Mordant?" Barry asked after clearing his throat.

"Yes, I am. Who's asking?" Mrs. Mordant asked.

"My name is Barry Allen, I'm a… I'm a detective for the MPD and we're looking into Rufus' disappearance," Barry said, uncomfortable at the idea of lying about his status. He wasn't a real detective, he collected and processed evidence. Detectives searched for leads, carried guns, and arrested people, but if the real detectives wouldn't play the part, someone had to.

"So they're finally looking into it?" Mrs. Mordrant asked, relief creeping into her voice.

"I'm afraid not," Barry said, trying to let her down gently, "I'm the only one who cares."

"Oh… I see," Mrs. Mordrant said, defeat evident in her tone.

"Rufus is a Huntsman, right?" Barry asked, pacing around the office.

"Yes," Mrs. Mordant said after a momentary hesitation.

"And the last time you saw him he was headed on a mission?" Barry asked, looking at the report on his screen.

"Yes," Mrs. Mordant confirmed.

"Can you tell me where he went?" Barry asked, hoping to find the name of the place that Rufus had disappeared at and continue the investigation there.

"A small town called Ostro, a few hundred miles away."

"Ostro? Gotcha, I'll be on my way, thanks," Barry said, finger moving hit the button to end the call.

"Wait!" the woman's voice, now fainter, emanated from the scroll.

"Yeah?" Barry asked, putting the scroll back next to his ear.

"One way or another, please bring him home," Mrs. Mordant desperately asked.

"I will. I promise," Barry said, his voice firm and filled with resolve.

Ending the call, Barry changed into his Flash gear, his yellow boots, a new pair of red sweatpants with yellow lines on the side, a sweatshirt with the sloppily painted lightning bolt and circle, his golden elbow and knee pads, and finally, his new goggles with attached wingtips.

Pulling up the location of Ostro on his scroll, Barry ran off, running through the streets and down the mountain. Barry was approaching the outskirts of the city when his vision became abnormally bright for the evening. It smelled like smoke too. Skidding to a stop, Barry turned and ran back down the street, then took a left. On the other street, Barry found a burning apartment building. Looking at the bystanders, then at the building, Barry knew there were not enough people on the street for the whole building to be evacuated. Taking note of which floor the fire raged from, he ran into the building without a second thought and raced up the stairs to the third floor. The moment Barry made it to the third floor he felt the heat and wished he wore the t-shirt instead of the sweatshirt, but there was no time. He had to save the people. The fire blocked the hallway, so the average person wouldn't be able to make it through.

Barry wasn't average.

Barry ran through the fire at speeds that made it look like he was teleporting, and moved to the closest door. Kicking it open, Barry searched the apartment and found a family huddled together. Grabbing the two young children first, Bary proceeded to the end of the hallway and ran towards the fire on the other end, gaining enough speed to clear the fire without risking the children by running through it. As soon as he landed, Barry raced out of the building and put the children down before running back up the stairs and evacuating the parents. For minutes relative to him, Barry worked tirelessly to save every living being in the apartment building.

Racing out of the building after his final trip, a puppy and child under each arm, Barry bent over and put his hands on his knees, panting.

Sitting down, Barry could hear the chatter of the people.

"He saved us."

"How did he do that?"

"Is he okay?"

Catching his breath, Barry stood up and raced off in the direction of Ostro, occasionally looking at his scroll to check he was going in the right direction. After half an hour of running, Barry arrived outside the town walls. Taking off his Flash gear, Barry dressed in his normal attire of a dress shirt, tie, jacket, and jeans.

Walking through the gates, Barry found a small town, no bigger than a city block. It had people milling around, people were hanging laundry in their yards, planting food, and children were chasing after each other. It was the least technologically advanced place Barry had seen on Remnant. As Barry was looking around, he heard a voice coming from behind him, "You're new around here, eh?"

Jumping a bit, Barry turned around and found a short old woman looking up at him. The old woman had mechanical blue eyes, a skull cane, and a beaded necklace.

"Yeah, I am," Barry said, not taking his eyes off the old woman's own, which were the likely the most technologically advanced object in the town.

"Well, welcome to Ostro, I'm Maria Calavera, the town elder. What's your name?"  
"I'm Barry Allen," he said, extending his hand.

"Well, Barry Allen, what brings you to our humble town?" Maria said as she took his hand and shook it.

"A Huntsman from Mistral has gone missing after being sent here to clear up a Grimm issue. I'm here to look into it," Barry said.

"A detective huh?" Maria asked, shutters over the glowing blue eyes narrowing.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm a detective," Barry said, once again feeling guilty for lying about his profession before continuing, "Is there anyone I can talk to about this? Like a mayor or something?"

"Did I not just say I'm the town elder? Kids these days can't remember a thing they're told," Maria snarked.

"Well, I don't exactly know what a town elder is," Barry apologized.

"I'm the wise sage who people come to when they're troubled. Those troubles include Grimm," Maria explained.

"So you'd have had contact with the Huntsman that came here?" Barry asked.

"Yes… Rufus Mordant, right?" Maria recalled, taking a moment to remember his name, "He showed up a few weeks ago while we were being plagued by Grimm. He set out into the forest to find their nest. The Grimm haven't stopped coming and he hasn't returned. We fear the worst."

"Which way did he head?" Barry asked.

"I'll tell you in the morning. It's getting late. Too late to go out into the woods."

"But…" Barry started.

"You can look through the entire forest yourself if you'd like, but I'm not telling you a thing until morning. Come back then." Maria ordered.

"Alright," Barry conceded, walking outside the town gates and out of view of the guards before changing into his Flash gear and running back to Mistral.

It was dark when Barry returned to Mistral, so he didn't go back to the lab, but rather to his apartment. When Barry got inside, he began his nightly routine of showering and eating dinner. As he ate his dinner, Barry clicked on the TV and switched to the news.

Barry froze when he saw the headline on the screen.

Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!

Hello, I'm Tawny Tea, and I'm here at the scene of a fire at an apartment complex on Wieringo street where a witness is telling us how everyone got out safely.

Barry watched as the camera panned to one of the people he saved.

We thought we were goners. Then in between blinking, we found ourselves on the street. When we looked around, we saw this man and he wore red with a yellow lightning bolt painted on his chest, and he was sorta just sitting there. Like he was catching his breath. Then he stood up and ran away like a bullet, leaving a trail of lightning behind. I got a picture while he was catching his breath.

The witness briefly fumbled with their scroll before a grainy photo of Barry was shown to the camera. While Barry watched the news, the hairs on the back of his head stood up. Seeing movement outside the window to his left, Barry whipped his head left but saw nothing. Walking over to the window, Barry opened it and stuck his head out, looking in all directions, but found nobody watching him so he shut the window, believing it to be his imagination.

Turning off the TV, Barry brushed his teeth and went to bed. Barry fell asleep completely oblivious to the Seer floating next to his window.

EVERNIGHT

The attack on Beacon had succeeded. They didn't find the Relic, but Atlas was no longer trusted by the rest of Remnant, Beacon Tower was gone, and Cinder had procured the power of the Fall Maiden, but Salem was concerned. The Fall Maiden had been bested in combat. Her power should be enough to topple armies, but a mere group of six had struck her down. Of course, it could be accredited to the fact that Cinder had not been particularly proficient in the usage of her powers. Still, any force that can best a Maiden would be a problem in the future. A problem that Salem needed to be taken care of. What was most worrying, is that one of the men who bested Cinder was now a disciple of Ozpin.

Looking through the Seer, Salem could see Ozpin's newest disciple sleeping. Leo had told her of his power. Commanding the tentacles on the Seer, they slipped under the window and lifted it up. Once the window was open far enough, the Seer floated inside and positioned itself over the man, who Leo told her was named Barry Allen, and Salem moved in for the killing blow.

"Wait!" Cinder shouted, Salem had nearly forgotten she was there.

"What is it, girl?" Salem asked, whipping her head around to stare at the girl, her red eyes boring into Cinder's soul.

"His power… it's too great to waste. We must find a way to extract it from him before killing him," Cinder argued.

"Power…" Salem hummed, "That's all you care about, isn't it Cinder?"

"I felt the power when we fought. He's hardly tapped into it. We should find a way to extract it from him. Then…" Cinder said, igniting a flame in her hand before closing her fist and snuffing it out, "We kill him."

Salem pondered this proposal of Cinder's for a moment, before turning to the awaiting Cinder.

"Very well. I will leave him alive for you, but you must know that any setbacks he causes us will be held over your head," Salem said, willing the Seer to leave the man, "As for extracting the power, you already have a method for that. You just need to master it. Now, the other men who bested you in combat. Do you believe that they pose a threat?"

Salem could feel more anger ignite inside Cinder at the thought of the other men who had bested her.

"Yes," Cinder replied without a trace of hesitation.

Salem looked at Cinder and told her, "You don't actually think they pose a threat to our plans. They humiliated you and you want them to suffer."

Cinder looked away, not denying the accusation. She tightened her fist and released it, stomping away to no doubt train with her powers.

VACUO AIRSPACE, 2 WEEKS EARLIER

Roman helmed the bullhead and Neo fiddled with her scroll, trying desperately to get a signal. Roman scoured the wastes for a populated area to land in and hopefully refuel. As Roman scanned the endless sandy landscape, Neo shoved her scroll in Roman's face. Roman used a finger to push the scroll far enough away that he could actually read. It was a news article from the Vacuo Voyager.

It read Vacuo Village Goes Green!

Overnight, a barren section of the Vacuo wasteland became rich and green. Witnesses report that the weather changed rapidly before it eventually came to a stormy climax, and when the wind died and the sky cleared, the denizens of Anotoite found the streets covered in grass and plant life.

"Sounds like it could be the work of Weather Wizard," Roman pondered while an idea formed in his mind, before telling Neo, "Show me where Anotoite is."

Pulling the scroll back to her, Neo activated the map app and typed the location into the search bar. Neo waited a moment for the results to load before showing Roman.

Jerking controls, Roman turned the bullhead in the direction of Anotoite.

OSTRO, PRESENT DAY

Barry stumbled his way through the thick foliage. Kicking and pushing the leaves and branches out of the way. He wished he could use his speed but the forest was too thick to run in. As Barry ripped a branch off a tree, something caught his eye. A line in the bark of the tree. As he examined it closer, he realized it was a slash mark. Perhaps Rufus had been using it to mark where he's been. Treading deeper into the forest, Barry found more and more slash marks on trees, sometimes multiple on one. Eventually, Barry found a fallen tree. This couldn't have been the work of a bladed weapon, as the stump was jagged. Almost as if someone had punched it over. Taking a closer look, Barry was also able to spot scorch marks.

There had been a fight here.

Looking around the stump, Barry found a tiny yellow shard. Barry pulled on his latex gloves, kneeled down and picked it up, feeling a faint electric charge between his fingers.

It was Lightning Dust.

Taking an evidence bag out of his pack, Barry dropped the tiny Dust shard into the bag and sealed it. Walking around the stump to make sure he didn't miss anything, Barry was satisfied when he completed his search without finding anything.

Continuing deeper into the forest, similarly damaged trees became more common than untouched ones. Walking deeper, Barry soon came to a clearing. In the clearing, Barry found the dirt had been disturbed.

He knew what it was immediately.

Barry got on his knees and stuck his hands between the earth and deposited it behind him. Barry repeated this process dozens of times before he finally found what he knew was underneath.

The partially decomposed body of Rufus Mordant.

After Barry pulled the body out of the hole and into the world above, he began examining the body. Two irregularities stood out about Rufus' corpse. The first was the purple gash on his forearm, and the second was the caved-in skull.

Grimm didn't bury bodies. This was a murder.

As Barry examined the body, he was lost in his own little world and failed to hear the footsteps creeping up on him until he heard a shout from behind, "Hey!"

Barry's eyes widened. This looked bad.


End file.
